Who did Vance Luther Boelter work for prior to his crime.
Executive summary
Vance Luther Boelter’s recent and verifiable employers immediately prior to the June 2025 shootings were funeral-industry roles in Minnesota and a position as a recovery technician at the University of Minnesota eye bank, while his broader work history includes past employment in food manufacturing and self-styled security ventures that he and his online profiles promoted [1][2][3]. Reports differ over the extent and veracity of his claimed security and military experience, and some outlets emphasize his own company listings and LinkedIn while others — including NPR — found those claims inconsistent with public records [4][5][6].
1. Last paid roles: funeral homes and body-recovery work
Multiple contemporaneous reports state that Boelter had been working for Minnesota funeral homes, removing bodies from houses and nursing homes, and that these were among his last employments before the attacks; Wikipedia’s summary cites two funeral homes in Savage and Saint Paul and notes he quit those jobs in February 2025, while news outlets corroborate funeral-industry employment centered on removals from assisted-living facilities [1][7].
2. Immediate pre-attack job: University of Minnesota eye‑bank recovery technician
Documentary reporting obtained by MPR News indicates that Boelter was employed as a recovery technician at the University of Minnesota eye bank until June 13, 2025, establishing a concrete, document-backed workplace directly before the shootings [2].
3. Long-term and earlier employers: Johnsonville and food-industry roles
Boelter’s longer employment record includes documented work at Johnsonville, the Sheboygan-based sausage company, where corporate confirmation and local reporting place him as an operations leader between 2004 and 2008, and multiple outlets say his résumé contains food-service and retail-management entries [3][8][5].
4. Self-described security business versus outside scrutiny
Online sources and Boelter’s own listings present him as running or directing a security company — Praetorian Guard Security Services — alongside his wife and describe security work in conflict zones and private security roles, but investigative outlets caution that many of those claims are self-described and not corroborated by public employment or military records; NPR’s review found “no history working in law enforcement, the military or private security,” while other reporting notes the company listings and promotional language [4][6][1].
5. Discrepancies, public appointments, and the messaging tug-of-war
Beyond paid employment, Boelter had served on state workforce-development boards and appeared in a variety of community and religious roles, facts that became politicized as social-media actors pressed contradictory narratives about his political ties and professional identity; fact-checkers and law-enforcement statements framed some claims about him as fantasies or uncorroborated, underscoring that while he worked in funeral services and as an eye‑bank recovery technician most recently, his online picture of a career security operative is disputed [5][1][9].
6. Bottom line and limits of available reporting
The clearest, contemporaneously documented employers immediately prior to the crimes are the Minnesota funeral homes where he removed bodies (an employment he reportedly left in February 2025) and the University of Minnesota eye bank position that lasted until June 13, 2025, while his prior history includes verified work at Johnsonville and contested claims of private-security and overseas roles that remain partly unverified in public records [1][2][3][6]. Reporting limitations include reliance on public documents, LinkedIn and company websites for parts of his biography and the inability of some outlets to fully corroborate overseas or security-related claims [4][5].